Why Men Often Suffer In Silence With Eating Disorders [VIDEO]

The National Eating Disorders Organization estimates the here in the U.S. 20 million women and 10 million men suffer at some point from an eating disorder. But researchers in the U.K. have conducted a study that concludes that men often suffer the most, as they suffer in silence.

The University of Oxford interviewed 29 women and 10 men aged 16-25 diagnosed with an eating disorder. What they found was that the men took longer to realize they had a problem because of the lack of knowledge and treatment.

"Our findings suggest that men may experience particular problems in recognizing that they may have an eating disorder as a result of the continuing cultural construction of eating disorders as uniquely or predominantly a female problem," Ulla Raisanene, a member of the research team, said.

Men were unaware of the signs and symptoms and often feared how people would respond to the fact that as a man they were suffering from an eating disorder. This could be because of a huge social misconception that only women suffer from anorexia or bulimia. The early signs of an eating disorder include obsessive calorie counting, weighing, extreme exercising and skipping meals.